Chapter 38: Fierce Fight! (1/2)
The world was vast and full of resources of all kinds. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filled every corner of the world, and was what made Qi warriors so powerful.
Since spirit beasts also breathed spiritual Qi, they too could cultivate and become more powerful.
Just like Qi warriors, when spirit beasts strengthened themselves with spiritual power, they could be graded according to their level of strength.
Spirit beasts were divided into ten grades which corresponded to the Qi warrior’s ten stages. A first grade spirit beast’s strength was equivalent to that of a Qi refining cultivator.
The first grade spirit beasts were the lowest ranked. They were usually physically strong, and had tough bones. However, they weren’t able to release their internal spiritual power in any form.
Despite being able to wield only external strength, they were big threats to Qi warriors who had just started along the path of cultivation.
RAARGH!
One after another, spirit beasts roared, bolting out from the glacier region to dash towards Nie Tian, who stood at the forefront of the group.
Considering that this was the first time he had encountered spirit beasts, it was no surprise that his jaw dropped in shock.
However, a mere moment later, he calmed himself.
“One, two, three… eleven, there are eleven spirit beasts!” By the time he confirmed their numbers, the beast leading the pack, a Frost Armor Rhino, was already closing in.
It was about three meters long and covered in silver-colored frost armor. As it ran along, a terrifyingly cold mist puffed out of its mouth and nose.
A one-meter long, razor-sharp horn jutted out from its snout, which emanated sparkling and translucent cold light.
Nie Tian’s heart tightened as he watched the Frost Armor Rhino speeding toward him faster and faster, its horn aimed directly at his chest. He felt as if his body had been infiltrated by the ice-cold wind, and was almost completely convinced that no matter how strong he was, once that horn pierced his chest, he would suffer severe injuries.
Behind the Frost Armor Rhino were numerous other spirit beasts, eyes emanating the cold light of hatred as they charged in Nie Tian’s direction.
“Heads up!” he said, chuckling as he backed away from the charging Frost Armor Rhino.
Considering the insane behavior of the eleven spirit beasts, Nie Tian didn’t have the slightest hope of killing them by himself.
He had to share the burden with trial takers from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and let everyone face the spirit beasts’ rage together.
The sudden appearance of the spirit beasts caused all of the other trial takers’ hearts to pound, and they began to shout.
“Eleven spirit beasts!”
“We’ve only just reached the edge of glacier area, and there are already eleven spirit beasts. It seems there are a lot more spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension than we thought!”
“Be careful, everybody! Prepare to fight!”
An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao dashed out to stand in front of the other youngsters, although Nie Tian was still in the process of retreat.
An Ying was the most composed of all, seemingly completely calm as she unsheathed a long, crescent moon-shaped saber from her back.
Even as the saber left the sheath, tongues of scorching fire began to pulse off of the tip of the blade..
She raised the saber above her head and then gracefully swept it out in an arcing slash as she cried,“Assume formation!”
The trial takers had all trained with her previously, and immediately grouped together in a tight formation.
Within seconds, a cone-shaped battle formation appeared, with An Ying being at apex. By this time, Nie Tian reached them, and cried out. “I’ve lured out the spirit beasts. The rest is up to you guys. Hey, I only came to the Green Illusion dimension to broaden my view and gain experience. I don’t want to die in the first skirmish! I’m only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, far weaker than you all, so it’s only fair that you take care of those monsters.”
With these words, he passed by An Ying and arrived at the center of the formation, the safest point of all.
The Frost Armor Rhino had already locked onto Nie Tian, and thus continued to run in his direction. However, when it saw him merging into the group, it shifted its attention to An Ying, who was now at the forefront.
Considering that the Frost Armor Rhino was almost upon them, An Ying didn’t have the time to argue. Bracing herself, she spat, “What a wuss!”
From the moment the spirit beasts appeared and rushed towards Nie Tian, her focus had remained on him, mainly because she had been given the task of checking to see if there was something strange about Nie Tian or not.
When one’s life was on the line, no one would hold back their secret weapon.
She had hope that Nie Tian would spare no effort to fight the Frost Armor Rhino, and that under her attentive observation, he would expose his secrets.
However, she could never have imagined that he would simply turn and run the instant he faced danger.
Nie Tian didn’t intend to fight the Frost Armor Rhino at all. Instead, he diverted its attention to her.
Although she knew that Nie Tian’s decision was the smartest one, she still held a grudge towards him for stealing her brother’s trial slot, and continued to berate him for using cowardly and timid methods.
“What a coward!” she snapped. Then, she clenched her fist down onto the hilt of her saber, causing a one-meter-long blade of fiery light to burst out..
“Half-moon Slash!”